Black Carbon (BC) aerosol is a major climate forcer in the Arctic. Here, we present 15 years (2001–2015) of surface observations of the aerosol absorption coefficient babs (corresponding to Equivalent BC), obtained at the Zeppelin Observatory, Ny Ålesund, Svalbard, coupled with backward transport modeling with Flexpart in order to calculate the Potential Source Contribution Function (PSCF) for BC. The observed long‐term variability superimposed on a strong annual cycle is studied as a function of large‐scale circulation patterns represented by monthly index values for the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) and the Scandinavian pattern (SCAN). We find a 35% increase of babs values at Zeppelin during the SCAN− phase in the winter half‐year compared to the SCAN+ phase but no significant difference in babs values between the NAO index phases. Both NAO and SCAN induce significant regional variability on the areas of origin of babs, mainly Siberia, Europe, and North America.
J. Mangerud, A. Hughes, Tone Herfindal Sæle
et al.
Abstract We reconstruct patterns of ice flow and retreat of the southwestern Scandinavian Ice Sheet, from 2900 field observations of glacial striae and elevation measurements of 60 ice-marginal-deltas from a high-resolution LiDAR DEM. During the Last Glacial Maximum, ice flow was towards the west across the entire area, including across several-hundred meter deep north-south oriented fjords. During deglaciation, ice flow adjusted to topography and the dominant flow direction switched towards the south-west. We use a shoreline diagram constructed from relative sea-level curves to establish the age of each delta, which allows us to constrain the timing of retreat with almost decadal precision. Rapid ice sheet retreat commenced at the onset of the Holocene at 11,600 cal years BP. Retreat rates were 160 m a−1 in the deepest fjords, 60–80 m a−1 in shallower fjords, and even slower for land-terminating margins. The fastest retreat rates, 240 m a−1 and 340 m a−1, were experienced in the largest fjords, Hardangerfjorden and Sognefjorden, which border the study area to the south and north. Crosscutting glacial striae indicate that calving bays developed during retreat along the widest fjords. The combination of complex fjord topography with fast ice-margin retreat by iceberg calving, led to isolation of ice remnants on islands and peninsulas, a process that accelerated the overall rate of deglaciation. Ice-margin retreat paused between 11,300–11,100 cal years BP, probably due to cooling during the Preboreal Oscillation.
Björn Lundquist, I. Larsson, Maud Westendorp
et al.
In this article, we present the Nordic Word Order Database (NWD), with a focus on the rationale behind it, the methods used in data elicitation, data analysis and the empirical scope of the database. NWD is an online database with a user-friendly search interface, hosted by The Text Laboratory at the University of Oslo, launched in April 2019 (https://tekstlab.uio.no/nwd). It contains elicited production data from speakers of all of the North Germanic languages, including several different dialects. So far, 7 fieldtrips have been conducted, and data from altogether around 250 participants (age 16–60) have been collected (approx. 55 000 sentences in total). The data elicitation is carried out through a carefully controlled production experiment that targets core syntactic phenomena that are known to show variation within and/or between the North Germanic languages, e.g., subject placement, object placement, particle placement and verb placement. In this article, we present the motivations and research questions behind the database, as well as a description of the experiment, the data collection procedure, and the structure of the database
Using map task data, this paper investigates the intonation of polar questions in North American (heritage) Icelandic, and compares it to the intonation of polar questions in Icelandic as spoken in Iceland and in North American English as spoken in Manitoba, Canada. The results show that intonational features typical of Icelandic polar questions are present to a considerable extent in heritage Icelandic. Furthermore, intonational features typical of North American English polar questions can frequently be observed in heritage Icelandic, too. In addition, there is a tendency for intonational features typical of Icelandic polar questions to show up in North American English polar questions produced by speakers of heritage Icelandic more often than in North American English polar questions produced by speakers without Icelandic heritage. Focusing on intonation, the present study adds to the evidence for (bidirectional) prosodic interference between a heritage language (here moribund Icelandic) and the dominant language (here North American English).*
During south Scandinavian Late Bronze Age, c. 900-500 BC, a new tool was invented. It consisted of a wooden shaft and a knife blade made out of flint. One singel of this tool still exists today. It was found in a Danish bog in late 19th century. But there are many of the knife blades of flint; in museum collections or in flint assemblages from archaeological excavations. Archaeologists call them large blade knives of flint. My research focuses on the question on why these large blade knives of flint were invented, used and finally ceased to exist in a period which archaeologically is defined as a transition time between south Scandinavian Late Bronze Age and Early Iron Age. The study takes on a theoretical perspective on sociotechnical change and persistence, discussing interpretative archaeology, materiality, actor-network theory, chaine operatoire and classification. An extensive empirical study is conducted, based in analysis of flint knapping technologies, use and archaeological contexts. The large blade knives as well as other Late Bronze Age flint industries are studied using attribute analysis, use-wear analysis, raw material analysis, experimental archaeology, and contextual analysis. The results shows that the large blade knives are highly standardised and specialised, produced at first hand at specialised production places by flint knappers with a special knowledge and know-how. The blade knives were used to harvest grains and cut reed. They were used in an area answering to today’s south Sweden, Denmark, south Norway, the Baltic coast of north Germany and Poland. There is a large uniformity of the technology over this area, although local variations exist. The large blade knives were used as agricultural tools. They are found in archaeological contexts which are very much associated to household activities. They are also found in ritual deposits, showing they were an evident part of Late Bronze Age cosmology. The do not occur as grave goods. Only one large blade knife from a grave context is known. The results of the research implies that previous studies has been delimitated by presumptions that technological change during this time was limited to metal, i.e. a change from using bronze to the use of iron. Instead we must consider that technological change during south Scandinavian Late Bronze age was a complex set of changes and persistence regarding social, technological, cosmological and power aspects, concerning the use of raw materials, changes in the use of the landscape, agriculture, hierarchy and ritual. Through the study of a specialised flint knapping technology and specialised use of a tool made out of a wooden shaft and a large knife blade of flint, aspects of change and persistence during this time is discussed. It is concluded that sociotechnical change and persistence was a dynamic of different claims in society between social group – between the old conservative power and the new inventors. The blade knives were actors and actants in the dynamic between the old aristocratically interpretative prerogative and the innovators clams on this interpretative prerogative. This is a result which has consequences on how we as archaeologists interpret the European change from Bronze Age to Iron Age. It moves the focus of archaeological interpretation, from looking at this time period as a change from one metal to another, to look at it from a point of view of sociotechnical change and persistence. (Less)
Abstract Records of biogenic and terrigenous components have been obtained from the interval corresponding to the last 2.6 m.y. of ODP Sites 643 and 644 in order to reconstruct surface and deep water regimes in the Norwegian Sea. Surface water regimes record long lasting moderate glacial conditions during the interval 2.6–1.0 Ma. Small intrusions of Atlantic water episodically penetrated into the Norwegian Sea forming a narrow tongue along the eastern margin, which is documented at Site 644. The polar front was most probably situated between the Site 644 and 643 locations on the outer Voring Plateau during these time intervals. Deep water regimes reflect long-term persistent corrosive bottom waters, most probably due to a weakly undersaturated water column and a low rate of carbonate shell production in surface waters. Deep water production in the Norwegian-Greenland Sea may have operated in a different way, e.g. brine formation during winter sea ice growth. Bottom waters were oxygenated throughout the entire period, and deep water was exchanged persistently with the North Atlantic. Increased glacial/interglacial environmental contrasts are documented, reflecting a strengthening of the Norwegian Current and intensified glaciations on the surrounding land masses during the interval 1.0–0.6 Ma. During this time a major shift in the mode of deep water production occurred. The onset of large amplitudes in glacial/interglacial environmental conditions with maximum contrasts in surface water regimes, different modes of deep water production, and intensified exchange with the North Atlantic marks the last 0.6 Ma. A broad development of the Norwegian Current is observed during peak interglacials, while during glacials seasonally variable sea ice cover and iceberg drift dominate surface water conditions.